Bailout for Millmerran power

MILLIONS of dollars have been pumped into the Millmerran power station to keep the asset afloat as the looming carbon tax takes its toll on the coal-fired electricity industry.

The bailout by the power station's owner InterGen was the first of two in the past week with a part-owner of the Victorian brown-coal power station Hazelwood forced to refinance the debt on the power station.

Both are believed to be a direct result of a coal-power generation industry that is under strain because of the carbon tax and volatility on financial markets.